This invention relates generally to computer stored databases. More particularly, it relates to a system, program and method for accessing a database utilizing a graphical user interface.
Computer stored databases have attracted an increasing amount of interest, not only because of the rapid expansion in the data stored and retrieved by these databases, but also as a result of the data relationships which can be established during the storage or retrieval processes. With the growing prevalence of relational databases, the training and experience of a typical end user has decreased as the available resources have increased. Users of databases have been particularly desirous of improvements in the graphical user interfaces to control the database applications to make them understandable by the novice user.
One of the more difficult elements of problem solving when using a database is often the identification of the sources that cause a particular problem. Search statements or queries are usually used for searching information stored in a database in an organized fashion to help problem solving. When users have few clear ideas about how to construct the proper query for solving a problem, a common approach is to start by examining an initial query report resulting from an initial query for more information. Based on this information, the user then decides how to narrow the search, or "drill down" further within the database. If these narrowed searches do not produce the desired result, then the user must back up to a previous search statement and try again.
Current search techniques are cumbersome, inhibiting efficient query formulation. Most existing systems do not provide a query history. These systems make iterative problem solving difficult by forcing the user to 1) remember all previous results, or 2) manually save or print the query and result. This is cumbersome.
Those systems that do provide a history usually provide some sort of linear log. Many commercially available databases have a history command which allows the user to access this log. The information within the log is usually not adequate. It may contain the number of "hits" which satisfy a search particular set of statements. It may contain nothing more than the initial query. The problem with these approaches are two fold. First, the log is presented in a linear way. This linear presentation does not reflect the actual problem solving process, where one query may be refined to produce another. Second, there is no convenient way to access the log. Further, when invoked, the history command removes both the detailed query statement and the detailed results of the last query statement from the display. The user must recall these details in the context of the limited summary when altering his search strategy. Also, the only method in most search systems to change a search is to write additional query statements.